When you see a "Support Our Troops" ribbon on the back of a car...

[Dan J 277]

BTW, can someone explain to me the "irony of seeing a 'Support the Troops' sticker on an SUV"? Is it something to do with the "it's a war for oil" theory? (Which while I disagree with, I do genuinely want to check I'm interpreting it correctly).

Little more than a theory: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6272168.stm

[mawilson 2,133]

They choose to serve because they are true patriots dedicated to the ideals of this country.

That their patriotism is exploited in a series of pointless wars based on lies designed to fill

the pockets of military contractors is hardly their fault.

That part of your argument is at odds with the first sentence - but it is the reason why I could never see myself joining up. Having noble ideals is admirable - but not when they're turned into a tool to be used and abused by corrupt governments.

I don't think the young men and women in the military have a clear understanding of the

government's policies, motives and actions. I guess the question is,

Is it honorable to lay down your life to defend a lie (if you don't know it's a lie), or is it foolish and amoral?

[Dan J 277]

They choose to serve because they are true patriots dedicated to the ideals of this country.

That their patriotism is exploited in a series of pointless wars based on lies designed to fill

the pockets of military contractors is hardly their fault.

That part of your argument is at odds with the first sentence - but it is the reason why I could never see myself joining up. Having noble ideals is admirable - but not when they're turned into a tool to be used and abused by corrupt governments.

I don't think the young men and women in the military have a clear understanding of the

government's policies, motives and actions. I guess the question is,

Is it honorable to lay down your life to defend a lie (if you don't know it's a lie), or is it foolish and amoral?

Isn't it also the responsibility of each citizen to be informed of these things?

[mawilson 2,133]

They choose to serve because they are true patriots dedicated to the ideals of this country.

That their patriotism is exploited in a series of pointless wars based on lies designed to fill

the pockets of military contractors is hardly their fault.

That part of your argument is at odds with the first sentence - but it is the reason why I could never see myself joining up. Having noble ideals is admirable - but not when they're turned into a tool to be used and abused by corrupt governments.

I don't think the young men and women in the military have a clear understanding of the

government's policies, motives and actions. I guess the question is,

Is it honorable to lay down your life to defend a lie (if you don't know it's a lie), or is it foolish and amoral?

Isn't it also the responsibility of each citizen to be informed of these things?

Perhaps, but it's also the right of every citizen to be ignorant of these things.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

They choose to serve because they are true patriots dedicated to the ideals of this country.

That their patriotism is exploited in a series of pointless wars based on lies designed to fill

the pockets of military contractors is hardly their fault.

That part of your argument is at odds with the first sentence - but it is the reason why I could never see myself joining up. Having noble ideals is admirable - but not when they're turned into a tool to be used and abused by corrupt governments.

I don't think the young men and women in the military have a clear understanding of the

government's policies, motives and actions. I guess the question is,

Is it honorable to lay down your life to defend a lie (if you don't know it's a lie), or is it foolish and amoral?

Difficult question. I guess it depends on the individual. As I say, that's why I couldn't/wouldn't do it.

[Karen_L 1]

Putting something like "Support our Troops" on tha back of your car is no reflection in intelligence, imo -- if it were something ignorant or offensive, then it'd be a different story. I could definitely respect someone who has that on their car. As for putting one on my own car -- I'm not big on political statements of any kind, so I PROBABLY wouldn't, but who knows, maybe I would if my child were in the service or something.

[Raspect 0]

Putting something like "Support our Troops" on tha back of your car is no reflection in intelligence, imo -- if it were something ignorant or offensive, then it'd be a different story. I could definitely respect someone who has that on their car. As for putting one on my own car -- I'm not big on political statements of any kind, so I PROBABLY wouldn't, but who knows, maybe I would if my child were in the service or something.

What I am saying, and I do agree with you, if I had a child in the war I would put one on. But what I am saying is this is not at all saying support the troops, that is just a lickle saying that noone can disagree with, so it can not be contested. What I believe it is really trying to say is, support the war. IMHO, who would not wish harm upon any of the people caught in the war. I would hope noone, it is just a easy non-offensive way to say support this bloodbath. I DO!!

[Elphie 0]

I don't see how a ribbon can have any bearing on a person's intelligence and as for the other two questions...yes and yes.

[Fuzzness 2]

nothing to do with intelligence, unless of course as someone said the car also has jesus stickers.

and i would not put any kind of bumper sticker on my car.

[wildllama 0]

I do think putting one of these stickers on your car can be a sign of education or intelligence. Not in every case, but probably a majority of the time. My reasoning is this, intelligent and educated people are more likely to want to talk or debate a point instead of throwing some bumper sticker on their car that is just some political or religious rhetoric. Because few things are really so black and white and people who think they are, are in my opinion not very intelligent. What does "Support our troops" mean? I see it as "Support our troops or your are a ..." Why do I have to put my complex feelings and opinions about this or any war on a three word sticker? As someone else said, I think we can assume that any normal person doesn't wish any harm to our service men and women or the many innocent Iraqis caught in the cross fire, so putting the sticker on your car implies something else. Atleast to me it does. Of course, someone else could just as easily say that sometimes people who consider themselves intelligent or educated tend to over think things and are missing the basic point. Whatever, that's just my 3 yen.

BUT, I don't think it has any reflection on if someone is worthy of respect. I base respect on personal character and it has little to do with intelligence or education and everything to do with who you are and how you treat other people.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I put bumper stickers in the same category as novelty ringtones for cell phones.

[one...two...tree 2,762]

I generally think the ribbons are so stupid....so you can wear a pink one for BC, rainbow one for AIDS, yellow for troops, and so on and so forth. Does that mean that I have to wear all of them to show I support all those causes, or is it a cause du jour scenario?

Exactly! Bumper stickers in general are stupid. I went through a phase of having a couple of custom bumper stickers on my car, but then I found myself being annoyed whenever I read other bumper stickers. There are some thought provoking, clever ones out there, but those are usually impossible to read unless your right behind their bumper and you've got several seconds to stare at it.

Edited July 7, 2007 by Steven_and_Jinky

[chri'stina 190]

nothing to do with intelligence, unless of course as someone said the car also has jesus stickers.

and i would not put any kind of bumper sticker on my car.

I don't really understand what you are saying there...so if they just have a support our troups sticker you don't judge their intelligence, but if they also have a Christian sticker you do? What if they just have Christian stickers and no troup stickers?

I don't get it.

By the way I have an old pro-life sticker on the back of my car, it's peeling off b/c it's been on there for years. I don't think I am stupid.

Edited July 7, 2007 by stina&suj

[Magnolia31 0]

I think that it does have something to do with intelligence. I think if you have one on your car you have been swept up by this "support your troops or you are a trader", and in that respect I think you have turned off your mental senses and just said, this sounds good, too hard to think about it rationally, i will agree with this.

It is saying support the war and not saying support your troops at all. It is saying fight till the end. And as we are seeing now, that is not supporting the troops. It is asking for them to put their life on the line at all times. To me that is not supporting them. Cause really how did we get into this bloodbath? For what reason? Is it still the same reason as the beginning?

No.

NO.

Umm, I disagree ... it has nothing to do with intelligence. I don't think anyone is a traitor if they don't display support for the American troops. I think people display flags and bumper stickers because they more than likely have a loved one over there. I do not support the war at all - I am against any type of war. I believe President Bush has his own agenda for invading Iraq; however, my husband is in the army reserves and I support him. I would have a flag outside of my house and I will tie a yellow ribbon around my tree once he is gone. Why? Because it is in memory of him. Once he returns safely, I will take it down.

Oh, and MOST soldiers do not want to be over there. MOST soldiers didn't know what they were getting themselves into when they signed their contract. MOST soldiers were told by their recruiters that they would not deploy to Iraq (they have lied) so yes, I do believe we should support all of those people over there who really don't even wanna be there in the first place.

My brother is an American citizen and is in the army as well. He is a cook. He was told before he signed his contract that they would give him a job where he would be unlikely to deploy. Well, he is going to Iraq too! Recruiters will tell you anything just to get you signed up.

My husband got in the reserves 2 years after departing from the army. The only reason he signed up was to keep his top secret security clearance which he will need for his FBI job. The recruiter lied to him too. They told him they will place him in an intelligence unit that does NOT deploy and that if he did get sent anywhere, it would be the Pentagon. So I told him to go ahead and sign up. They did keep their word and place him in an intelligence unit, but what they failed to mention was that they could call him back for active duty to do his old job as a transportation officer when he was still in the army. So they now picked him out of the bunch to go as a "TO" where he will pretty much be on the road all the time. Scares me to pieces.

OK, I've written a novel and I apologize but this is a topic that really gets to me.

[Magnolia31 0]

Putting something like "Support our Troops" on tha back of your car is no reflection in intelligence, imo -- if it were something ignorant or offensive, then it'd be a different story. I could definitely respect someone who has that on their car. As for putting one on my own car -- I'm not big on political statements of any kind, so I PROBABLY wouldn't, but who knows, maybe I would if my child were in the service or something.

What I am saying, and I do agree with you, if I had a child in the war I would put one on. But what I am saying is this is not at all saying support the troops, that is just a lickle saying that noone can disagree with, so it can not be contested. What I believe it is really trying to say is, support the war. IMHO, who would not wish harm upon any of the people caught in the war. I would hope noone, it is just a easy non-offensive way to say support this bloodbath. I DO!!

No it doesn't. It does not mean support this bloodbath. I will do it to support my husband who doesn't wanna even be there in the first place. Right now he needs me to be strong for him. It will not help any if I sit here and get angry at him, sit here cry around and everything else. I won't lie, I have been put on anxiety and depression pills because of this, however, I need to support him. I need to let him know everything will be okay while he is gone. I need to tell him things to keep him strong! It's not an easy task but it's my job. Do I support this "bloodbath"? Hell freaking NO!